Packaging bag

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a packaging bag. The packaging bag is made of an envelope of at least one enclosing element made of polymer material and the envelope includes a plurality of perforation holes at least on a part of the enclosing element. The packaging bag is especially suited for accommodating goods which have damageable surfaces and require air ventilation. Such goods may be agricultural products.

This application is a National Stage application of InternationalApplication No. PCT/EP2008/010043 filed on Nov. 26, 2008.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a packaging bag. The packaging bag is made ofan envelope of at least one enclosing element made of polymer materialand the envelope includes a plurality of perforation holes. Thepackaging bag is especially suited for accommodating goods which havedamageable surfaces and require air ventilation. Such goods may beagricultural products.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Packaging is a crucial element in almost all industries where goods haveto be transported, stored or presented. One of the most commonly usedforms of packaging is the bag. Therefore there exist a vast number oftypes of packaging products in form of bags, optimized for the variousapplications.

The variety is stretching over all characteristics of the bags like thematerials e.g. natural or synthetic materials, types e.g. meshes orclosed surfaces, forms, stability, sizes, colors or additional featureslike various types of handles, carrying straps or stabilizing features.Three examples for the state of the art are schematically shown in FIG.1 a to FIG. 1 c.

FIG. 1 a shows a mesh packaging bag 1 made of a mesh 2. It is apparentthat the product 3 is visible from the outside. FIG. 1 b shows a plasticpackaging bag 4 of the same type, wherein this bag 4 is made of amaterial with a closed and opaque surface 5 and therefore the goodsinside the bag are not visible. The bags 1, 4 in FIG. 1 a and FIG. 1 bare closed with a single clip 6. FIG. 1 c shows a bag 7 wherein the formof the bag 7 in the filled situation is not defined by the goods 2inside the bag, but by structures provided to the bag 7. Additionallythe bag 7 comprises two areas; i.e. a lower area 8, where the enclosingmaterial is opaque, and a second area 9 wherein the enclosing materialis transparent. Additionally this bag 7 comprises a handle 10 in form ofan opening in the enclosing material.

The packaging products in the form of bags 1, 4, and 7 in FIG. 1 a to 1c are most commonly made of synthetic materials mainly for cost andweight reasons by using a closed film of the material and then formingthe bag. Such bags do not allow adequate air or cooling circulation intheir interior, resulting in the poor preservation of the packed foods.The same situation occurs in case of increased heat that may be trappedinside the bag and spoil perishable agricultural products.

The packaging products available in the form of mesh overcome theseventilation problems since they have an air circulation enabling surfaceand allow good air ventilation for example for food. However, meshespresent significant disadvantages, since the mesh is in contact with thepacked good. When the mesh is produced, it undergoes yarn hardening inorder to obtain higher tensile strength. Goods that are in directcontact with the mesh rub against the hard yarn and their outer surfaceis often destroyed. In many cases, rubbing also causes an aesthetic andcleanliness problem, as in the case of onions packed in mesh bags. Themesh destroys the skin of onions that falls off and litters duringtransport or storage of the mesh bag. This problem is not limited tofood, but applies to every good having surfaces that can be scratchedare damaged by the mesh material.

Apart from the food air circulation problem, bags with closed surfacespossess the advantage that information can be printed on them, which canbe very well seen and depicts a benefit regarding information provision,product recognition or advertisements. However closed surface bags havethe disadvantages, such as the non-visible good condition. On theshelves of the stores, the buyers might prefer to see the good stored inthe bag in its actual condition before purchasing it. In most cases, theabovementioned bags are not transparent and therefore the good cannot beseen.

Again, the mesh bags can overcome this disadvantage of non-visible goodcondition, but only at the costs of a bad readability of information onthe mesh. Therefore often information containing media are attached tothe meshes. Additionally mesh bags cannot be used for small goods, whichwould fall through the mesh.

WO 2007/026183 describes a packaging means for providing a fresh grocerygood that is placed in the packaging means. In one embodiment it isrealized as a bag furnished with a moisture absorbent insert and sealedair-tightly under vacuum, wherein the packaging means includes a vacuumfoil clinging to the good, and a fenestrated moisture impermeable layer,e.g. a perforated foil separating the good and the moisture absorbentinsert from one another.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,593 discloses a ventilated package film with a bandof micro-perforations to envelope goods like blueberries or raspberries,which are placed in containers. The film is used to envelop the wholecontainer.

The problem to be solved with the invention is it to overcome the abovementioned disadvantages of bags corresponding to the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is solved by a bag as describedherein and as defined in the appended claims.

The present invention is directed to provide an optimized packaging bagwherein the above mentioned advantages of the meshes and the abovementioned advantages of bags with closed surfaces are combined in oneproduct. Such a bag allows adequate preservation, transport and storageof packed goods while offering an aesthetic and functional product. Thebag may be realized as a low cost product with a very broad applicationrange through its flexibility to be adapted to the application.

The bag corresponding to this invention offers a superior combination ofbeneficial characteristics to the state of the art bags. It providesgreat elasticity and resistance to rupture and wear and has an aestheticappearance, since the perforated shell, of which the bag is made of,maintains substantially its shape and initial form without tear whenforce applied by the good it contains. It further allows air circulationin its interior retaining the good's humidity, liberating the heattrapped in the bag to the environment and allowing the appropriatecooling of the good.

The packaging bag comprises an envelope with a plurality of perforationholes, wherein said envelope comprises at least one enclosing elementmade of a polymer film of at least one layer, wherein said perforationholes are distributed on at least a part of said enclosing element,wherein the enclosing element has at least one joint and wherein atleast parts of the surfaces of said enclosing element and said jointdefines an inner chamber of said bag.

The envelope may comprise more than one enclosing element which arejoined to each other together defining the inner chamber of the bag.Such a solution with more than one element may be especially suited forbags with more complex forms or where enclosing elements made ofdifferent materials are used. This allows an adaptation of theappearance of the packaging bag to the application.

The envelope may comprise one enclosing element. In this embodiment theenclosing element is joined with itself forming the envelope defining aninner chamber of the bag.

The enclosing element may be a substantially rectangular film as baseelement. A bag comprising a substantially rectangular film as baseelement has the advantage that the base element may be easilymanufactured with standard tooling as a part of a larger substantiallyrectangular film and then the base elements for different bags may becut out off the larger substantially rectangular film without materialloss. The substantially rectangular enclosing elements joint togetherforming the envelope have together preferably a width between 0.2 m to1.2 m.

The packaging bag comprises a perforated envelope which is made of apolymer film material which is soft and does not damage the packed goodsby destroying or damaging the skin of the goods or peeling off thegood's skin and therefore not littering the storage area.

This innovation significantly improves especially the agriculturalproducts packaging problem with respect to friction, appearance andpreservation of packed goods. The main intention is the packaging foragricultural goods, but the application of the invention is notrestricted to such goods.

The openings of the perforation holes may have circular, oval,substantially rectangular or drop-shaped form. The rectangular openingsmay have rounded corners.

The oval or rectangular openings have preferably a minor axis lengthbetween 0.2 mm and 4 mm and major axis length between 2 mm and 8 mm. Thedrop-shaped openings preferably have comparable opening areas to theabove given numbers for the oval openings. Preferably the individualopenings should have uniform opening areas.

The number of perforation holes may vary due to the polymer filmmaterial property, the density of the perforation holes, the applicationpurpose, the weight of the goods, the ventilation need or the requestedappearance.

The perforation holes may be located only on parts of the enclosingelement or in case that more than one enclosing element is used, some ofthe enclosing elements may be perforated and others may not beperforated.

The envelope of the bag may offer visibility to its interior, since thepolymer film may be semitransparent or transparent. Even if theenclosing element according to this invention is opaque or colored orprinted the envelope of the bag may offer visibility to its interior dueto the perforation holes. Furthermore the polymer film material of theenclosing element may be selected to be recyclable andenvironment-friendly. The bag may be provided without a handle or with ahandle. The handle may be part of the polymer film forming the enclosingelement made and the bag therefore can then be easily carried andstored.

The polymer film comprises at least one polymer layer, but may compriseas well of more than one polymer layer flatly connected to each otherforming a multilayer polymer system. The fixation of the differentlayers to each other may achieved by welding, thermal binding, gluing,laminating or any other fixation method and the fixation may be over thefull area of the layers or in some areas of the layers.

The polymer film may have areas with different numbers of layers and thethickness of the polymer film varies preferably from 30 μm to 120 μm.

The properties of the enclosing element, such as polymer material,additives to the polymer, number of layers, thickness of layers,perforation hole distribution, size of perforation holes, density ofholes, color of layers, and other relevant properties may be freelychosen to address the needs of the specific application. Requirement ofthe application, which can be addressed with such a property selection,may be the level of required air circulation, the required water vaporpermeability, the required stability of the film, the size of the good,abrasion properties of the good, the design of the package, expectedtransparency of the film or expected printability of information on thebag.

Processes such as electrical discharge perforation, laser perforation,stamping perforation, hot stamping perforation or hot needle perforationmay create the perforation holes. The form of the openings may changeafter the perforation process due to any further process manufacturingsteps or due to usage of the packaging bags such as heavy goods filledin the bag creating stress within the enclosing element.

The perforation process is preferably applied on the polymer film or onsubassemblies of the polymer film having more than one layer or to theindividual layers positioned one above the other in a way that theperforation holes of one layer is above the perforation holes of thelayer below for a majority of perforation holes. It is as well possiblethat some layers might not be perforated if their constitution allow fora required permeability and visibility.

The enclosing element may be opaque, partially transparent ortransparent. Partially transparent is defined as meaning that only partof visible light is transmitted through the film. The transparency maybe defined by the layer of the polymer film or other transparencyimpacting materials contained in at least one of the layers or on thesurface one or more layers. Such materials may be colors or printingchemicals for example ink or ground coat. The transparency of theenclosing element may differ in different areas of the enclosingelement.

The material of the layer of the polymer film preferably isPolyethylene, High Density Polyethylene or Linear Low DensityPolyethylene. One layer of the polymer film may as well be made of othersynthetic materials such as Low Density Polyethylene, Ethylene VinylAcetate, Polyvinylchloride, Polyamide or copolymers of said polymers orcombinations of said polymers or copolymers.

For polymer films comprising more than one layer the material of theindividual layers may differ. Preferably the layer forming the insightof the bag may comprise Linear Low Density Polyethylene.

For bags comprising more than one enclosing element the material of theindividual enclosing elements may differ.

Additives such as plasticizer, polycarbonate, iridic or colors may beincorporated into at least one layer of the polymer film.

The plurality of perforation holes in the envelope may be distributed onpart or over the entire area of the enclosing element. Preferably theperforation openings on the enclosing element form a stripe or stripesof perforation holes. The individual openings within those stripes arepreferably equidistant and preferably the stripes are formed of lines ofperforation holes.

The perforation openings on the enclosing element may be positionedforming patterns. These patterns may be logos, images, words or letters.Further the same pattern may be repeated on one enclosing element ordifferent patterns may exist on one enclosing element.

At least one layer of the polymer film of the enclosing element may beprintable or inscribable on at least one surface. Preferably thissurface is a surface of the enclosing element. The surface may bedirected away from the inner chamber of the bag. This allows forproviding any type of printed or handwritten information on at least onesurface of at least one layer. Therefore the material defining theinformation may be incorporated insight the polymer film and thereforethis information is protected from external influences like rubbing orchemicals. The printable and inscribable area may only be a part of theenclosing element. The information may for example display companylogos, product information, and advertisement.

At least an area of the enclosing element of the bag may show aprinting. This printing may display logos, images, drawings, letters orwords.

The printing may be applied prior to or after the application of theperforation process and it may be applied to the polymer film prior toforming the envelope or to the enclosing element after forming theenvelope.

The packaging bag in a preferred embodiment comprises an envelope with aplurality of perforation holes, wherein said envelope comprises at leastone enclosing element made of a polymer film of at least one layer,wherein said perforation holes are distributed on at least a part ofsaid enclosing element, wherein said enclosing element has at least onejoint, and wherein at least parts of the surfaces of said enclosingelement and said joint define an inner chamber of said bag. Theenclosing element comprises at least two perforation-areas with theplurality of perforation holes, each of the perforation-areas forming astraight band and reaching over the entire length of the envelope. Theenclosing element further comprises at least two non-perforation-areaswithout perforation holes and each of the non-perforation-areas forminga straight band and reaching over the entire length of the envelope, andthe perforation- and the non-perforation-areas forming together saidinner chamber of the bag, wherein said perforation-areas and saidnon-perforation-areas are forming a hose base element by a further jointreaching over at least a part of length of the envelope, and whereineach perforation-area is adjacent to two non-perforation-areas and eachnon-perforation-area is adjacent to two perforation-areas and whereinone opening of said hose base element is closed by said joint.

A polymer film forming the enclosing element preferably has in thisembodiment a substantially rectangular form as base element.

The further joint preferably reaches over the entire length of theenvelope.

The further joint may be completely positioned in one of thenon-perforated or perforated areas. Preferably it is positioned in oneof the non-perforated areas.

The joint for closing one opening of the hose and defining together withat least parts of the surfaces of the enclosing element an inner chambermay be realize with various configurations how areas of the enclosingelement are positioned and joined with each other.

In one embodiment the joint has a specific configuration in which theenclosing element is joined with itself at an intersection or joint. Inthis specific joint configuration the joint comprises a first and asecond section of the joint each with at least four layers of saidenclosing element wherein in at least a subsection of said first sectionthe two inner layers of the joint are of material of a firstperforation-area and wherein in at least a subsection of said secondsection the two inner layers of the joint are of material of a secondperforation-area.

The joint may completely or partially close the opening.

The bag may be completely closed by a joint.

All joints forming the envelope of the bag may be generated by welding,thermal binding, gluing, laminating or with joining elements such asstaplers are sewing yarn.

The goods may be positioned inside the bag during the manufacturingprocess of the envelope. This may be realized by wrapping the enclosingelement around the goods and adding the joints. Alternatively theenvelope is formed first, the goods are placed inside the envelope andthen the bag is closed on the open side of the envelope.

The packaging bag according to this invention may be provided with ahandle or a hanger for hanging the bag to a holding means such as ahook.

Therefore the packaging bag may comprise at least one handle or at leastone hanger, wherein said handle or said hanger is an opening in thepolymer film.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Hereinafter, the invention is described in more detail by means of thedrawings wherein:

FIGS. 1 a, 1 b and 1 c show schematic drawings for three state of theart bags for goods packaging;

FIGS. 2 a and 2 b are schematic drawings of representative forms of thepackaging bag corresponding to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing of a more complex packaging bagcorresponding to the invention;

FIGS. 4 a and 4 b are schematic drawings of packaging bags correspondingto the invention with perforation holes only a part of the enclosingelement;

FIGS. 5 a, 5 b, and 5 c are schematic drawings of packaging bagscorresponding to the invention with examples of information provided onthe packaging bags;

FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing of the packaging bag corresponding to theinvention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective drawing of the packaging bagcorresponding to the invention open on one side of the envelope;

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective drawing of the packaging bagcorresponding to the invention completely closed;

FIGS. 9 a and 9 b are schematic drawings of an embodiment of theinvention with a rectangular base element and the corresponding hose;

FIGS. 10 a to 10 d are schematic drawings of configurations of the jointfor forming the hose corresponding to embodiments of the invention;

FIGS. 11 a and 11 b are perspective schematic drawings describing theformation of the joint for closing the opening of the hose correspondingto embodiments of the invention;

FIGS. 12 a and 12 b are top-down views of configurations for closing theopening of the hose corresponding to embodiments of the invention;

FIG. 13 shows a perforation machine;

FIG. 14 shows the discharge process for perforating; and

FIG. 15 shows the perforation process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 2 a and 2 b depict two embodiments of the packaging bagscorresponding to the invention. The bags comprise a perforated polymerfilm with a plurality of perforation holes 11 over the entire surface ofthe bag. The enclosing element 12 in FIG. 2 a is opaque, thus, the goods3 inside the bag are only visible through the perforation holes 11. Inthe embodiment shown in FIG. 2 b the enclosing element 12 is fullytransparent and therefore the goods 3 are visible through both thepolymer film of the enclosing element 12 and the perforation holes 11.In this embodiment the main function of the holes 11 is allowing the aircirculation and thermal ventilation. These bags have one opening that isclosed with a clip 6.

The form of the bag may as well be more complex as shown in FIG. 3 andmay have structure 14, 15, 16 contributing to the form of the bag aswell in the filled state. These means may be stiffener elements, folds,reinforcing elements. The bag may keep its shape even under externalforces. The form stability may be as well achieved by using materialsand stabilizing elements being elastic such that the bag returns back inthe original form, after external forces like carrying or piling areremoved. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 the bag has perforation holes11, an opaque enclosing element 12 and a handle 10 in form of an openingin the enclosing element. This handle may have any form. One examplewould be at least one hole with the function of a hanger to hang the bagto a hook. Embodiment in FIG. 3 has a cubic base form, howeverembodiment in FIG. 3 may be folded along the fold 15 and therefore maybe flat in the folded state.

Additionally the perforation holes 11 may cover only parts of the bag.The form of the perforated areas can be freely selected such as formingcompany or product logos. In the same manner the non-perforated areasmay have specific forms to represent for example company or productlogos. As well the non-perforated areas are positively impacting thestability of the bags and thus offer another parameter to provide anoptimized bag. In a preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 4 a the partiallyperforated film area 17 and the non-perforated area 18 form stripes. Thepattern of the holes on the film may be regular or the holes may berandomly distributed. In a preferred embodiment the perforation holesare forming lines of holes along the long axis and rows along the shortaxis of the film, but in each consecutive row the holes are displacedalong the short axis by half a period. In FIG. 4 c the base pattern ofthe perforated areas are triangles 19.

The bags have preferably drop-shaped openings of the perforation holes11 as schematically shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 4 of a size for which theround portion of the drop has a diameter of approximately 0.3 mm to 7mm. The size and the density of the openings are freely selectabledependent on the packaged good requirements. In cases where only theventilation is a relevant feature of the bag, smaller holes might beused, but in case that it is of major importance that the goods can beseen inside the package larger holes or a high density of holes may bemore appropriate.

FIG. 5 a to FIG. 5 c show embodiments of the bag corresponding to theinvention with information provided on the bag. The perspective shown isa frontal view on a bag, comprising an enclosing element 12, two areaswith perforation holes in from of a stripe 17 and one area withoutperforation holes in from of a stripe 18, wherein an information 20 ispositioned on the non-perforated area 18. In FIG. 5 a this information20 is an image, in FIG. 5 b it is a text, and in FIG. 5 c theinformation 20 is image and text and in this embodiment the informationis displayed on the perforated areas 17. Every combination is possiblefor the positioning of the information 20 and it may as well reach overdifferent type of areas.

In another embodiment the bag comprises two sides and one side isperforated and the second side non-perforated with our without printing.This has he advantage that in case such a product is lying in a shop,the customer may see all the information on the front side, while theventilation is ensured through the perforation holes on the backside.

FIG. 6 shows another schematic drawing of a bag corresponding to theinvention. The bag is provided with at least one enclosing element 12 inthis case with two enclosing elements 12 a and 12 b. The two enclosingelements are joined with intersections or two joints 21 and 22 along thelength of the bag and closed on the lower end with another intersectionor joint 23. With this joint 23 and the enclosing elements 12 a and 12 ban envelope 24 is formed defining an inner chamber 25 and having anopening 26 on the top of the envelope. At least a part of an enclosingelement 12 b is perforated with a plurality of perforation holes 11. Theperforation holes may be on the front-side and/or on the back-side ofthe bag. It notes that the joint 23 does not necessarily be on the edgesof the enclosing elements and therefore some of the polymer film may beexternal material 27 of the enclosing elements. Depending on theformation of the joint 23 this material 27 may be located insight theinner chamber 25.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the packaging bag. This bag comprisesone enclosing element 12 with a substantially rectangular film as baseelement 36 as it is shown in FIG. 9 a. This rectangular film is closedwith an intersection or joint 28 along the length L of the envelope byjoining the edges of the film 28 a and 28 b as well shown in FIG. 9 a.With this joint 28 a tubular construction or hose 37 is formed as shownin FIG. 9 b with four areas 30, 31, 32, and 33 of the enclosing element.In a specific embodiment there are two perforation-areas 31, 33 withperforation holes 11 and two non-perforation-areas 30, 32 withoutperforation holes that are positioned opposite to each other byseparating the perforated areas by non-perforated areas. Thus,perforation-areas 31, 33 are adjacent to two non-perforation areas 30,32 and vise versa. In this specific embodiment the two areas 30 a and 30b in FIG. 9 a are joint to become the area 30. By closing the hose 37along the width W of the envelope on the edge 34 with an intersection orjoint 34, an inner chamber 25 is defined. In this embodiment the bag hasone filling opening 25 on top of the envelope.

Since FIG. 7 shows only one embodiment of the invention, the perforationholes may as well be positioned on the front-side area 30 and/or theback-side area 32. Any combination of perforation holes on the fourareas 30, 31, 32, 33 are further embodiments of the invention.

In another embodiment this opening on top of the envelop is closed withanother intersection or joint 35 as shown in FIG. 8.

In an embodiment of a bag with one opening 25 goods may be entered, butit is as well possible to directly form the bag around the goods duringthe packaging of the goods. It may be as well beneficial to sell thebags in a completely closed state and then open it before usage.

As shown in FIG. 10 a the joint 28 may be inside the areas 30 a and 30b, then the joint may have different configurations. Three embodimentsare shown in FIG. 10 b to FIG. 10 c. The two areas 38 and 39 not beingpart of the envelope may be located inside the inner chamber 25 asdepicted in FIG. 10 b, in the external periphery 40 as it defined bybeing outside the inner chamber 25 as depicted in FIG. 10 c. It is aswell possible that one area 38 is inside the inner chamber 25 and thesecond area 39 being in the external periphery 40 as shown in FIG. 10 d.

A preferred configuration for closing the openings in the hose 37 alongthe joint 34 is shown in FIG. 11 a and 11 b. In this embodimentformation of the joint may be explained by moving a central part 41 ofthe two perforated areas 31,33 of the hose 37 in the direction to eachother. Then a fold 42 is formed. With this fold the rims 43, 44, 45, and46 are laying one besides the other the two rims 44 and 45 of theperforation-areas being the two inner layers. Joining these layers forexample with welding or thermal binding leads to the joint 34 and 35.

Such an embodiment may have the advantage that the perforation-areas arenot exposed to the periphery, when the bag is folded and therefore theinterior of the bag is better protected against dirt from outside aslong as the bag is stored in the folded status.

The resulting top-down view on this fold for the joint 35 is shown inFIGS. 12 a and 12 b for two different embodiments. The joint 34 may beformed in the same way. The joint 35 may be separated in differentsubsections 47, 48. In at least two of the subsections 47, 48 the layers43, 44, 45 and 46 are arranged as described above. In these sub sections47, 48 the layers are preferably fixed to each other forming the joint35. Between the two sections 47 and 48, the areas 30 and 32 may be notfixed to the other layer forming an opening 49 from the inner chamber 25to the external periphery 40. This is shown in FIG. 12 a. In anotherembodiment the areas 30 and 32 are partially fixed to each other.Therefore the width of opening may differ. The opening may haveadvantages that during the folding process air may exit through thisopening or it may be even used as opening for pulling the layers 30 and32 apart. FIG. 12 b shows an embodiment where the two layers 32 and 30are completely closed through an intersection or joint 50 being part ofthe joint 35.

The rectangular base elements is preferably cut out off of rolls of anextended length and a width between 0.2 m and 1.2 m.

In a preferred embodiment the perforation process is applied to thepolymer film as shown in FIG. 13. A non-perforated film 51 forming aroll is passed with the use of an axial system through a perforationmachine 52. In this specific case an electrical discharge perforationmachine is shown, but as well other methods like laser perforation,stamping perforation or hot needle/nail perforation could be conducted.After the perforation the perforated film 53 can again be provided inform of a roll. However it would be possible to have the bag forming oreven the packaging machine directly attached to the perforation machine.In a packaging machine a preprinted and ready to use polymer film couldbe used.

The discharge perforation process is depicted in FIG. 14 a and FIG. 14b. By applying a high voltage between sharp nails of a transmitter 54 aand the nails of a receptor 54 b a voltaic arc is generated. Is apolymer film 51 located between the transmitter and receiver nails, ahole is formed in the polymer film between the opponent nails. Theperforation may be conducted by creation of multiple simultaneouselectrical discharges. The size of the holes depends upon the appliedvoltage. By variation of the number of nails and their distribution overthe width of the film, the local density of the holes and their totalnumber can be determined. In FIG. 14 b the nails 54 are equallydistributed while in FIG. 14 a only some areas of the film becomeperforated.

Not only one row of nails 54 can be used in such a perforation machine52, but as well several rows. This is shown in FIGS. 15 a and 15 b. Thenails 54 are located on rods 55. The number of rods 55 may be freelychosen. The rods are located above and below the path for the polymerfilm 51—only one side is shown in FIGS. 15 a and 15 b the film. The rodsmay be positioned vertically to the long axis of the polymer film 4. Thenumber of nails 54 and their distribution is not fixed, therefore asshown in FIG. 15 a partially perforated stripes 17 and non-perforatedstripes 18 or as shown in FIG. 15 b fully perforated films 53 may beobtained. FIG. 15 c as a Detail A of FIG. 15 b shows that the locationof the nails 54 on one rod relative to the location on the second roddetermines the final pattern for example by the distance 55 of the rodsand the horizontal distance 56 of the nails.

In another embodiment the numbers of nails per rod are the same, but byindividually addressing the nails the positioning of the holes can becontrolled. The drop-shape of the holes is a result of the movement ofthe polymer film during the perforation process. In cases where the filmtransport is stopped during perforation, the holes become symmetric tohave a circular, oval or more rectangular shape.

1-13. (canceled)
 14. A packaging bag comprising an envelope having alength, width and a plurality of perforation holes, said envelopecomprising: at least one enclosing element made of a polymer film havingat least one layer, said at least one enclosing element comprising: atleast one width joint; at least two perforation-areas having saidplurality of perforation holes, each of the perforation-areas forming afirst straight band; and at least two non-perforation-areas withoutperforation holes, each of the non-perforation-areas forming a secondstraight band; at least one length joint located on one of said at leastone non-perforation-areas; said at least two perforation-areas and saidat least two non-perforation-areas being joined at said at least onelength joint to form a hose base element, said hose base element havingat least one opening and an inner chamber; wherein each perforation-areais adjacent to two non-perforation-areas and each non-perforation-areais adjacent to two perforation-areas; said envelope having a closedposition wherein one of said at least one opening of said hose baseelement is closed by said at least one width joint forming at least fourlayers at a first and second section of said at least one enclosingelement, said four layers comprising two inner layers and two outerlayers; and wherein said two inner layers of said at least one widthjoint comprise at least a portion of a first perforation-area of saidfirst section and at least a portion of a second perforation-area ofsaid second section.
 15. The packaging bag according to claim 14 whereinsaid at least one enclosing element is one enclosing element.
 16. Thepackaging bag according to claim 14 wherein said at least one enclosingelement comprises a substantially rectangular film as said hose baseelement.
 17. The packaging bag according to claim 14 wherein each ofsaid plurality of perforation holes have a circular, oval, rectangularwith rounded corners or drop-shaped form.
 18. The packaging bagaccording to claim 14 wherein said at least one enclosing element isopaque, partially transparent or transparent.
 19. The packaging bagaccording to claim 14 wherein said at least one enclosing element ofsaid polymer film is selected from the group consisting of at least onelayer of polyethylene, low density polyethylene, high densitypolyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, ethylene vinyl acetate,polyvinylchloride, polyamide or co-polymers of said polymers andcombinations of said polymers or co-polymers.
 20. The packaging bagaccording to claim 14 wherein said at least one layer of polymer filmcomprises polymer film materials selected from the group consisting ofplasticizer, polycarbonate, iridic and colors.
 21. The packaging bagaccording to claim 14 wherein said plurality of perforations holes formstripes in said polymer film.
 22. The packaging bag according to claim14 wherein said plurality of perforation holes form a geometricalpattern, logos, images, letters or words on said at least one enclosingelement.
 23. The packaging bag according to claim 14 wherein said layerof said polymer film is printable or inscribable.
 24. The packaging bagaccording to claim 14 wherein an area of said at least one enclosingelement comprises a printing.
 25. The packaging bag according to claim14 wherein said at least two perforation-areas reach over the entirelength of the envelope and said at least two non-perforation-areas reachover the entire length of the envelope.
 26. The packaging bag accordingto claim 14 further comprising at least one handle or at least onehanger, wherein said at least one handle or said at least one hangercomprises an opening in said at least one enclosing element.